Draft-gear.



H. T. KRAKAU. DRAFT GEAR. v vAIPLIUATION FILED HAB.. 17, 1906. RBNBWD BEPT. 9, 1907.

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. Patented Sept. 29, 1908..,

H. T. KRAKAU'. v DRAFT GEAR. I I APPLIOATON FILLED MAR. 17, 1906.BENBWED SEPT. .9, 1901. 900,024.

Patented sept. 29 1908.l

` H. T. KRAKAU.

DRAFT GEAR. v ABPLIOATION-FILED HAR. 17, 1906. RENEWED SEPT. 9, 1 907.

lmtenteulA sept. 29, i908.

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.Illia inventos M JM UNITED srATEs vPATENT OFFICE.

HARRY T. KRAKAU, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE NATIONAL MALLEABLECASTINGS COMPANY, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO', A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

DRAFT-GEAR.

I 4Spectenation.of Letters Patent.

i Patented sept. 29, loof Original application filed November 17, 1905,Serial No. 287,864. Divided and this application filed March17,

1906, Serial No. 306,615. Renewed September 9, 1907. Serial No. 392,044.

To all 'whpm fit may concern:

Be it known that I, HARRY T. KRAKAU,

of Cleveland, Cuyahoga county, Ohio, have invented a new and usefulDraft-Gear, of

5 which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, referencebeing had tothe accompanying drawings, forming part of thisspeciiication, in which--l Figure 1 is a plan viewof a draft gearembodying my invention; Fig. 2 is-a side elevation, partly in section,of the same; Fig. 3

- is a vertical longitudinal section of the parts sho' in Fig. 2, but ona larger scale; Fig. 4

`, is a p la View, partly in section, showing the 1\ pivota onnectionofthe coupler; and Fig. 5

1s a detail view showing the connection be- \\weenjthe springs and truckframe.

The present application isa division of my application Seria No.287,864, filed Novem- My invention provides a draft-rigging in which thecoupler is capable of swinging laterally through a wide rang'e and isconnected to the truck so as to be guided there# by positively intoproper position. Y

' The device can be used with success on passengencars, and can also beapplied to draft-riggings in a manner which will adapt them for use notonly with passenger cars, but also with much greater eficiency thanheretofore on freight car equipments. The advantages of suchlaterally-swinging draft gears are, that they relieve the cars from thelgreat strain to which they are subjected when provided withlaterally-fixed drafte gears, and also remove/strain from the wheels,axles, and track, and thus increase the durability of the cars andeffect a very'considerable economy in the power required to move 40 thetrains. The drawings show the 'preferred embodiment of .my invention,but it 'will be understood by those skilled in the art that the partsand their arrangement may be modified 1n many ways and that some of theparts of the ap aratus may be applied to use without the ot ers.

In thedrawings, 2 represents the .carcoupler, which hasl a long rearextension pre erably made in the form of a shank 3 which terminates attheend in a socket 4 for ya vertical pivot-pin 5. For convenience, Iprefer to 'make the coupler-shank in two parts 3 and 3a, the rearportion 3 beingv provided with the socket 4 and being forked so 55 as toAiit the sides'of the forwardy portion 3a. The socket 4 iits within ayoke 6 to which it is attached by the pivot-pin 5, and the yoke ismounted between the draft-irons 7, '7, followers 8 being set crosswisewithin the yoke 60 and adapted to bear against stops 9 on the irons. Aspringer springs 10 is inter-posed between the followers and 'theseparts together constitute the draft rigging. A suitable tail-bolt whichis a well known equivalent may be substituted for the yoke, frictionaldevicesand the like may be employed, and the construction andarrangement of the springs and followers may be modiied inmany ways. j

lVhen the car is in service, the coupler and its shank will turnradially on the axis of pin j 5, being guided by means described below,so that it willat all times be in approxi- Amately the central portionofthe railway track. The draft rigging, however, is'held from turninglaterally by the ,car sills, and remains in the longitudinal axis of thecar,

' and as the coupler is subjected to the resfolsure of buffing anddraft, the forwar lower willbe forced back against the spring or therear follower drawn forward against the spring as-the case may be, theforward lstops 9 resisting the force of draft and the rear stops 9resisting the force of bufiing. 85 As shown in Fig. 5 the forwardfollower 8 preferably projects forwardly somewhat and is provided with acurved face against which a correspondingly curved surface on the end ofthe coupler-shank bears, so asl to` afford a bearing for thecoupler-shank in all "positions of vlateral adjustment of theshank andcompression of the spring. A y

To guide the coupler-shankinil to hold it substantially at the centerofthe track, I provide it with guiding-rods shown in Figs.

1, 2, 8 and 4, which are made with telescopically-arranged sectionshaving interposed 'i springs 11. At their rear ends these rodsv areconnectedfby ball-and-socket joints 12 to brackets 13 at the ends of thetruck, and at their forward ends the rods are connected byball-and-socket joints 14 with an elbow# lever or like connection 15,mounted at the middle on a vertical 'pin 16 which projects downwardlyfrom the coupler-shank and is -otherwise secured thereto. ver connectsthe guiding-rods to the couppreferably connected therewith byapad i7yand bolts '18. The pin may, however, be

made integral with the coupler-shank, .or

rihe elbow-leler-shank in such manner that tension exerted upon it oneither side will turn it and lkeep its arm on the other side in theproper line, and the -ball-and-socket joints aiord the necessaryflexibility to theparts.

To insure the guiding ofthe coupler sub stantiallyi to the center ofthe'track7 l locate the 'pivotal axis 5 back ofthe iront end of thetruck frame and the pointA 16 in advance of the truck frame.

I claim l. lA draft gear having its spring rigging` and bivoted to thespring rigging ata point back ci" the iront end of the truck-frame;substantially as described.

'3. A laterallyswinging draft-gear having guiding connections with thetruck co1nposed of members with ball and socket ]o1nts.

4. A laterally-swinging draft-gear having guiding connections with thetruck coniposed of members with universal `ioints.

5. A laterally-swinging draft-gear having guiding connections with thetruck composed of 'members with an intermediate elbow-lever pivoted onthe draft-gear.

6. A laterallyeswinging draft-gear having guiding connections with the`truck composed of members with an intermediate pivotally mountedconnection on the draftgear.

In testimony whereof, l. have hereunto set my hand.

HARRY T. KRAKAU.

- Witnesses z g A. H. LEWIS, EMIL W. JAiTE.

